Pariyatti

The Buddha—A Unique Teacher
from Bodhi Leaf No. 36 by Francis Story

History has produced many great figures, but none in this present cycle or time as impressive and memorable as that of Siddhattha Gotama, the Sakyan prince who became the world’s greatest spiritual guide. He was unique as a personality, and unique as a teacher. There have been countless Enlightened Ones before him and there will be more, as long as saṃsāra endures, but he is the only one of whom we have actual historical knowledge, and his life has been a source of wonder and inspiration for more than twenty centuries. It continues to be so today.

Narrated by Sanjeev Kumar
2021
37 minutes

Download Audio (50 MB)

Audiobook copyright, 2021 Pariyatti

'The Buddha—A Unique Teacher' can also be found in the Pariyatti Edition of Collected Bodhi Leaves Vol. III as well as at BPS as a free eBook download.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Why the Buddha Did Not Preach to a Hungry Man
from Bodhi Leaf No. 121 by Louis van Loon

What makes one man poor and another rich is not only a question of material possessions, how much they consume or the extent to which they are able to satisfy their cravings. This is determined largely by the manner in which they subjectively experience and psychologically evaluate a feeling of well-being in the context of the environment in which they happen to be situated. Indeed, “poverty” and “affluence” are largely relative terms: quantitatively, a well-to-do member of a primitive Bushman society is still desperately poor compared with an urbanised African who may well own a radio, a guitar, a good suit and some cattle at his homeland kraal. He, however, is appallingly destitute when his lifestyle is contrasted with that of a white artisan who, in turn, envies the earning capacity—and everything that goes with it—of a Johannesburg business executive who, however, may well earn— and be able to afford only as much as a New York dockworker.

Narrated by Judy Swift
2020
50 minutes

Download Audio (25 MB)

Audiobook copyright, 2021 Pariyatti

Download a free eBook of this title at Buddhist Publication Society.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Chapter 28 - We Are Everywhere
from Cultivating Inner Peace by Paul R. Fleischman, M.D.

Solutions to the new, crowded, interconnected era will not be just technological but spiritual. They will embrace sorrow for what each individual life is not, for without conscious awareness of the sorrow that is intrinsic to individuality, there will be no possible solution to group self aggrandizing aggression and the plagues of externalizing blame that have characterized organized religions and nation-states. I prefer to meet people covered with tears rather than those holding a fistful of complaints.

Whether humankind U-turns away from dysplastic growth toward peace or not, I have—and you have—the option to live the best possible life. Inner peace is already within you, waiting to be opened. Cultivating inner peace will make you happier and more resilient and practical, able to face the difficulties of your personal death and human communal confusion head-on. It will open you to realizations that exceed the pragmatic, so that you will enter the stream of peace that is always invisibly flowing in and around you. Engaged in the world most helpfully, you will become an internal habitue of a place beyond the wind, the abode of peace.

Dr. Paul Fleischman
Massachusetts, USA
2020
17 minutes

Download Audio (8 MB)

Copyright, 2021 Paul R. Fleischman

There is more information about vipassana meditation at Dhamma.org, and books and audio resources available for purchase in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Chapter 27 - A Great Cry On Earth
from Cultivating Inner Peace by Paul R. Fleischman, M.D.

The practices from which inner peace derives, and which it in turn furthers, transcend material reality without rejecting it. To find inner peace, a person must be turned completely around. A challenge is set before us by the radical perception of “the flow of nutriment,” which means: Is there anything more to your life than the tumbling on of animal instinct—“the male collects food, and the female lays eggs”?

People contain an invisible wavelength that grows out of the feeling of “enough!” It is not exotic nor esoteric, for it is found in every person, more or less developed. Peace ascends through the aperture of psychic fullness. Energy to pursue high values, mindfulness of the ephemeral sensations of every moment, thoughtful inquiry beyond complacency—these are the seeds of enlightenment. Concentration, calm, joy based on perspective rather than acquisition—these are seeds of enlightenment. Equanimity in all circumstances is the culmination of inner peace—the radiance of sufficiency.

Dr. Paul Fleischman
Massachusetts, USA
2020
31 minutes

Download Audio (15 MB)

Copyright, 2021 Paul R. Fleischman

There is more information about vipassana meditation at Dhamma.org, and books and audio resources available for purchase in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Chapter 26 - Our Inner Peace Is Earth's Frontier
from Cultivating Inner Peace by Paul R. Fleischman, M.D.

Cultivating Inner Peace is the most important action we can take to help planet Earth, on whose back we all ride, whose breath we breathe, whose plants provide our food, and whose properly intense sunlight is the source of energy for the molecules that form our body. Rather than solipsistic disinterest, the cultivation of inner peace activates our fundamental human calling: to overcome our predatory egotism—which is the source of war, over population, and environmental destruction—and to reorganize our lives around the deepest gratifications we can feel: love, sympathetic joy, compassion, and peace of heart and mind.

Dr. Paul Fleischman
Massachusetts, USA
2020
34 minutes

Download Audio (17 MB)

Copyright, 2020 Paul R. Fleischman

There is more information about vipassana meditation at Dhamma.org, and books and audio resources available for purchase in the Pariyatti bookstore.